The present invention relates in general to scraper-chain conveyors as used in mineral, e.g. coal, mining.
It is well known to construct scraper-chain conveyors from a series of channel sections or pans arranged end-to-end and along which a scraper-chain assembly is driven. Each pan is usually fabricated from two shaped side walls between which a floor plate is welded. It is known, for example from German patent specification No. 2531861, to reinforce the side walls with the aid of bars extending the full length of the side walls and welded to the exteriors thereof. The reinforcement bars increase the overall width of the conveyor pan. Attachments, such as spill plates or guides or the like, are secured to one or both side walls of the pan with the aid of bolts held by the side walls. Recesses are provided to locate the heads of these bolts and hitherto, in the case of recesses in the reinforcement bars, it has only been possible to employ bolts with comparatively thin heads.
A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved pan construction for a scraper-chain conveyor.